1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to archery products, and particularly to a device and a method for marking archery cables to facilitate accuracy of cable selection and for inventory control.
2. State of the Art
Archery cables are commonly stocked, by both retail stores and manufacturers of archery products, in a broad range of sizes and conformations (e.g. various lengths, single stretch or multi-stretch drawstrings and end cable combinations, variable spacing between end loops and nocking point or intermediate reinforcing wraps) to fit a variety of bow types and models. The materials of construction of an archery cable typically include strands of metal or string and typically form an irregular surface composed of small diameter strands. Such surfaces generally are not conducive directly to hold printed indicia due to the generally rough texture of the surface, and potential for relative motion between strands forming the surface.
Retail outlets may be required to stock over 100 different cables to service current and prior-sold archery tackle. Such required variety in stocked cable stretches inevitably leads to a jumble of similar cable stretches being stored in a single container, or certain cable stretches being misplaced during restocking. Cable stretches for disparate archery bows can look confusingly similar, but be operationally incompatible. In such case, cable stretches must be individually measured to determine their length and conformation, and to verify that an appropriate cable stretch has been selected.
Sometimes, cable stretches are packaged, for retail sale, inside of a resealable clear envelope. In such case, the package itself may be labeled, typically either by writing on its surface with an indelible marker, or affixing an adhesive label to the exterior of the envelope. However, cables may sometimes be removed from their envelopes (e.g. to test fit to a bow), and returned to an incorrect envelope. As a consequence, the retailer may subsequently either lose a sale, or sell an incorrect cable, because that cable is mis-identified. Furthermore, the cable identification parameters carried by the package are unavoidably disassociated from the cable when the cable is removed from that package and installed onto an archery bow. Consequently, when such a cable requires replacement, a time consuming inquiry may be required to determine the required parameters of a replacement cable.
In certain cases, a flat label may be attached to a cable stretch to provide cable identification. Typically, such flat labels are paper rectangles that can be tied to the cable at the end of a leash formed by a length of string or twist-tie. Such a tied label flops about at the end of its leash, and can become entangled with other stored cables and labels. Furthermore, such a label would be at least an annoyance, if not a hazard, if the label were to be left attached to a cable installed on an archery bow. A consumer will inevitably remove such a label from the cable when the cable is installed on an archery bow. Consequently, the cable identification characteristics are disassociated from the cable, making replacement of the cable at a future time more difficult.
In the past, Capro Cable, a cable manufacturer located in Willis Tex., used a hot stamping/printing process to mark an identification for a particular manufacturer onto a plastic coating of steel buss cable stretches. The hot stamping process impressed an ink or die into the plastic coating of the pig tail section of certain steel buss cable stretches. The plastic coating substrate was an inherent component of the cable material used to form the buss cable stretches. The manufacturer's identity was applied to the cable stretches for the purpose of reducing liability concerns over use of substandard cable stretches. As presently understood, no use was made of such marking to provide other cable characteristics, such as cable length, or applicable archery bow model on which the cable stretch may be used.
The present arrangement for providing archery cable identification can be undesirably time consuming, and is fraught with opportunity for error and inconvenience. A better way to label archery cables is desired to increase speed and accuracy of cable selection. A device providing tidy and durable display of cable characteristics, and that can remain attached to a cable stretch would be an improvement.